Burnt The Fire Of Thine Eyes
by Neutral-Chaotic
Summary: AU. When James and Lily learned of the prophecy, they fled Britain and Harry grew up in France. Now, eighteen years later, the three Potters return, and Squib!Harry devises a way to bring Voldemort down. HP/DG, with side slash and femmeslash pairings.


**Title:**_Burnt The Fire Of Thine Eyes_

**Summary: **_AU. When James and Lily learned of the prophecy, they fled Britain and Harry grew up overseas. Now, eighteen years later, the Potters return, and Squib!Harry devises a way to bring Voldemort down. Het Harry, side slash/femmeslash pairings._

**Rating:**_ T for language, violence, canon and non-canon character deaths (mentioned in passing and perhaps some actually occurring), and sexual references (but nothing explicit)._

**Pairings:** _Harry/Daphne, featuring various side pairings of the slash, het, and femmeslash varieties._

**Comments: **_In this story, Harry is a Squib, and a Squib he will remain. His magical skills will be limited to Occlumency and very little else. However, just because he's non-magical doesn't mean he'll be boring; he'll be a lot more intelligent and charismatic than his canon counterpart. The title is a quote from Blake's poem _The Tiger_, for the record. _

**Disclaimer:**_ Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for the plot, which is 100% mine._

**Prologue**

_The first time Harry realises that he is not like everyone else is his sixth birthday._

_When he gets downstairs, there is a long present on the table, wrapped in crimson and gold. His parents sit on chairs nearby, and their heads turn as they hear his soft footfalls._

_Lily Potter breaks into a brilliant smile. "Happy birthday, Harry!" Her son runs to her, and she pulls him into a tight hug and kisses the top of his head. She releases him only after he wriggles impatiently in her arms._

_James Potter ruffles the boy's messy black hair, so similar to his own. "Happy birthday, son." He picks up the scarlet package and hands it to him with a grin. "You'll love it, Harry."_

_Harry takes his time opening the present; there is only one, as always, and he wants the feeling to last. When the wrapping paper finally falls away, he sees a brand new Nimbus Mini__ and his eyes widen. He picks it up and it fits perfectly in his hands._

"_Thanks, Mum and Dad!" he cries. "Can I try it out?"_

_His father smiles benevolently at him. "Sure, my little Chaser."_

_The three of them go outside, into the back garden; an eager Harry sprints ahead, with the elder Potters trailing behind. The boy holds the broomstick out in front of him and swings one leg over it. He bends his knees and jumps – _

_And falls over._

"_Never mind," says Lily with false brightness. "Try again, Harry!"_

_He stands up and dusts himself off, then repeats the motion. He manages not to fall over, but the broom does not rise. His parents descend into a conference of whispering, occasionally shooting out phrases like "inherent magical energy" and "might be a Squib". He doesn't know what a Squib is, but the word in itself is unpleasant and makes his stomach twist._

_Finally, the two break away from each other. There is no disappointment on James Potter's face. He forces a grin and says, "How about we have cake now?" But the spark in his eyes, the one that he always has, is gone._

_Harry could've handled disappointment, but the dullness in his father's eyes is so much worse._

**Chapter One**

With a crack, a dark-haired man landed on the grass. He swore and adjusted the glasses that framed his hazel eyes. Not long afterwards, a twin crack signalled the arrival of a red-haired woman, arm in arm with a much younger man.

A corner of the woman's mouth twitched as she looked at the man sprawling on the lawn. "Honestly, James, you'd think you'd never Apparated before with the way you're always falling over."

James Potter got to his feet, shooting her a glare but not really meaning it. "We can't all be as good at Charms as you are, Lily." But his reply went unnoticed, as a frown had creased Lily's face. He knew that look meant that there was something wrong, out of place. After more than twenty years of marriage, he had learned to trust his wife's instincts; they were almost always accurate.

"The wards are still up," she said quietly, biting her lip. An identical frown crept across her husband's features as he realised the truth of what she was saying.

The young man, who had remained silent so far, spoke up. "But I thought wards decayed over time if they're not reinforced?"

"They do," said James darkly, drawing his wand, "and it's been eighteen years. Stay here, Harry. If we're not back in five minutes–"

"I know, I know." Harry cut over his father. "Portkey out and get to safety."

James grinned. "Sorry, son, but your mother just wouldn't feel safe if we didn't go over the emergency procedure. Even after all we've been through."

Lily didn't rise to the bait, instead taking out her own wand. She began to stride towards the house, her husband pacing after her.

Harry watched his parents go, then sat down. He pulled the backpack off his shoulders and rested it in his lap before closing his eyes and preparing to wait.

James and Lily crept down the hallway, which they had known intimately in what seemed like another time. They had cast Silencing Charms so that their feet made no sound as they padded on the thick carpet; it wasn't that they needed to, but they couldn't afford carelessness. Constant vigilance, as an old acquaintance of theirs would've said.

They had just passed the kitchen when James froze. He motioned at his wife to be quiet and listened to the alien sound echoing in his ears.

Someone was definitely singing, and loudly, in a raspy tenor. Lily prodded her husband with her wand and gestured inside the open door, mouthing "What now?" James shook his head and narrowed his eyes, content to listen for a while longer.

Lily waited for a minute or two before she became impatient. She jabbed James again, harder this time. He rubbed his arm and sent her a wounded look. She rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity her husband was displaying and stepped forward.

The singer continued, gloriously off-key and oblivious to the argument outside. "_They laid him to rest with his hat inside out_..."

James lunged, grabbing desperately at his wife's arm. "Wait!" he mouthed at her. The two locked gazes, with Lily's green eyes boring into James's hazel ones. At last, the redhead caved in, reluctantly stepping backwards.

"_And his wand snapped in two, which was sad_," caterwauled the man in the kitchen, finishing off by holding the last note for a ludicrous amount of time.

Something occurred to James, and he doubled over laughing. If it hadn't been for the Silencing Charm, his cover would certainly have been blown. Lily merely raised one ginger eyebrow and waited for her husband to pull himself together. At last, he wiped away tears of mirth and managed to steady himself.

James raised his wand and moved it in precise patterns, forming glowing letters of fire. _It's an old drinking song called _Odo the Hero_. It was a particular favourite of mine when I was younger._

Lily's other eyebrow joined the first raised one, but she made no move to speak.

_Leave it to me, and go get Harry_, were James's next words before dispelling his message and slipping into the doorway. The woman was left out in the hallway; she sighed noiselessly, and then went to find her son.

Once he was inside the kitchen, the elder Potter leaned back against a wall and concentrated. A few seconds later, a fully-grown stag stood in his place. It whuffled quietly to itself in satisfaction and trotted out into the kitchen proper, hooves muffled by magic.

The man who had been singing (if what he had been doing could be given such a generous name) stood at the Muggle stove, with his back to the Animagus. He had shaggy black hair which kicked out to his shoulders, but none of his other features were visible. _Time to change that_, James decided, then lowered his head and butted the man with his eponymous Prongs.

The man spun around angrily. From the front, James could see that his fringe was far longer than it had ever been during his schooldays, almost obscuring his grey eyes. "What the fu– _Prongs_?"

The stag nodded in a distinctly human way.

"Fuck," said Sirius Black eloquently. "I don't believe it." He rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hand and focused on the animal that, when human, was his best friend. "They said you were dead."

James glared at the man, or tried to; the lack of human features didn't exactly help. He resumed his normal shape and dispelled the Silencing Charm with a wave of his wand, then raised his eyebrows. "Why so serious?"

Sirius laughed weakly, then strode forward and enveloped the other man in a hug. When he pulled back, a familiar mischievous grin plastered his face. "It's good to have you back."

"Sirius? Who are you talking to?" came another voice, and then the man who had spoken entered the kitchen. He wasn't so much thin as wiry, with light brown hair liberally sprinkled with grey.

"Oh," said Remus Lupin. "Hello, James." He seemed supremely unruffled by the fact that his friend, who he had last seen almost twenty years ago, had appeared without warning in the kitchen. Yet warmth coloured his voice, and he clasped hands with the other man.

"Hi, Moony," replied the man with equal warmth. "How've you been?"

Remus clung like a Grindylow to the banalities of conversation. These, he could handle; he had a feeling that he wasn't quite ready for any more excitement, so he delicately skirted the big questions. "Can't really complain," he said. "What brings you here?"

"The thing is that–" started James, then stopped just as suddenly when he realised that neither of the men was paying attention to him, instead staring over his shoulder. "Am I missing something here?" he asked suspiciously.

"_Merlin_," Sirius breathed. "He looks just like you, James."

Harry had stepped into the doorway. In the light, his resemblance to his father was enhanced; his features were all Potter. But his eyes were pure Evans-green, and there could be no doubt as to who his parents were.

Remus regained his balance first, which was no surprise to anyone. "You must be Harry," he said, crossing the floor and extending a hand. "You wouldn't remember me, of course, but I'm Remus Lupin."

The boy took his hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you," he replied, "or re-meet you, as it may be."

Smiling, the werewolf retreated to lean against the counter besides Sirius. Harry's godfather was silent, though, gazing inquisitively at his godson.

"Sirius Black, I know that look!" exclaimed James. "You're going to corrupt him, aren't you?"

"Like I'd even get any good corruption done with Evans around," pointed out Sirius a little mournfully. He glowered at the man, as if to say _why'd you go and marry someone mature and responsible?_

Just then, Lily swept in. "Morning, Remus," she said affectionately. "Hello, Black," she said, her tone changing to become more than a little nasty. "Didn't realise we were on last name terms now."

"Right," said Sirius, having the good grace to look a little sheepish. "Er. Sorry, Lily."

"Besides," added Harry, "I wouldn't be much use even if you did manage to corrupt me. I'm a Squib."

An awkward silence reigned until Remus cleared his throat. "Tea, anyone?"

A few minutes later, the five of them were seated in the lounge with steaming hot cups of tea.

"So," said Remus, setting his cup down. "Where exactly were you?"

"France," answered Lily. "Britain in wartime isn't the best place for a child to grow up."

"How've your transformations been, Moony?" asked James, abruptly changing the subject.

Remus actually smiled. "They invented something called the Wolfsbane Potion a few years ago. It's not a cure for lycanthropy, but it certainly makes the full moon a lot more bearable. You know I was always rubbish at Potions, so Sirius makes it for me. It lets me retain my human mind, so Padfoot and I go for a run in the grounds of Potter Manor."

"I'm glad you worked something out," said Lily, the corner of her mouth turning up. Although she had never seen any of his transformations, she had heard stories from James about them, and she did _not_ envy the man. She had always liked Remus, as the supposedly sane member of the group of four. She had been completely baffled as to why he hung out with such a bunch of imbeciles – at least until she had fallen in love with the biggest imbecile of them all. Then she had suddenly learned the attraction of being around James Potter, although she hoped the others weren't secretly in love with him.

James shifted against Lily, and asked another question. "That reminds me. How did you get past the wards, Padfoot?"

Sirius grinned. "I moved in with you when I was sixteen, remember? The wards accept me, so Moony and I moved in after you left. And the fact that this house is Unplottable is the icing on the cake."

Followup questions rushed to James's lips, but he managed to restrain most of them. He settled for asking, "What about Twelve Grimmauld Place? Isn't it also Unplottable?"

The man shot him his blackest Black look. "Hah, like I could go there. My whole family's in Voldemort's pocket. Bellatrix, Narcissa, Regulus... the lot of them."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What about Andromeda? I can't imagine she'd willingly join up." She had met Sirius's favourite cousin during the summer after their graduation, when he had been searching for a place to stay. Surprisingly, the two women had really hit it off, both being the strong-willed people that they were.

Sirius didn't speak for the longest time. When at last he did, it was in a croak. "I heard Voldemort found her. Said that because she was born a Black, he'd let her live if she abandoned her 'Mudblood' husband" – he dropped the speech marks neatly around the distasteful word – "and half-blood daughter." He raised his head and looked James's wife in the eye. "You know what she sacrificed for Ted and Dora. She would never leave her family and return to the heritage she turned her back on." His tongue darted out of his mouth and moistened his lips. "He brought Bellatrix with him, and made Dromeda watch as her sister killed her husband and daughter. Then Voldemort turned his wand on her himself."

"Sirius, that's _awful_," she replied. Quiet blossomed outwards; none of them really had anything to say.

James, with his typical bluntness, broke the ice. "So where's Peter?"

The two men on the other sofa exchanged a dark look.

"Fucking bastard," was Sirius's contribution. Lily raised a curious eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Finally, Remus bit his lip and began to speak in a low, intense voice. "Once I'd moved in, we strengthened the wards so that nobody else could get in, for obvious reasons. It must've been about the end of 1982 when we received an owl from him." His voice lowered further until it was almost a growl. "He said he'd seen the light and joined up with Voldemort, and he suggested we should do the same. Turning his back on us was one thing, but the nerve of asking us to change sides..." He was white and shaking by this point. Sirius laid a hand on his shoulder; Remus sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

James was silently fuming. It took a lot to anger the normally placid werewolf; he would make Peter pay. He felt sick as he thought of all the time he had spent with the man who would turn traitor. Okay, so he had never expected great things from his shorter, chubbier shadow, but _this_?

Lily then asked the question that nobody wanted to hear. "What about the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Here in its entirety," said Remus wryly, indicating the five of them. "Everyone else is gone."

"I don't believe it," replied James forcefully. "Where's Dumbledore and McGonagall?"

"He died a few years back," said Sirius, "and she disappeared shortly after you left."

"What about Frank and Alice Longbottom?"

"Dead, by Voldemort's own hand. And their son, too."

The Potters traded a significant glance. "Mad-Eye Moody?" inquired Lily.

"It took seven Death Eaters to bring him down."

"Fabian and Gideon Prewett? Emmeline Vance? Edgar Bones?"

"Dead, the lot of them."

James exhaled. "_Shit_." Lily chose not to nudge him impatiently; considering what they had just been told, it seemed unfair. "It really is just us, huh?"

"And nobody's doing anything about it?" Harry's voice cut over everyone, startling them all; they had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Until this morning, there were exactly two members of the Order left in Britain, and nobody else would dare oppose Voldemort," Remus stated.

"We can't," said Sirius bluntly.

Harry's left eyebrow shot up. "Oh?" he said in a tone that was oddly Prongsian. "Can't we?"

_Thank you very much for reading. Please review; I want to know what you think, because I'm trying something new. Pairing suggestions are welcomed, but not guaranteed. I'm also in need of a special kind of beta; my spelling and grammar are good, but the same can't be said of my characterization, which is why I need someone__. It helps if you're open to slightly strange pairings; I mean, I'm not talking Harry/Giant Squid, but you'll need to be okay with slash and femmeslash. If you think you could help, please PM me. Next chapter: more familiar faces, and the introduction of both subplots!_


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